Established as a California Community College in 1965 following voter approval, Ohlone College serves the cities of Fremont and Newark and parts of Union City in the southeast region of the San Francisco Bay area. The Ohlone Community College District is a single college district with two campuses and a thriving e-campus. Officially named Ohlone College on June 18, 1967, the institution honors the early Ohlone who lived in the Fremont and Newark area and much of the surrounding San Francisco Bay for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. A Board of Trustees was elected in 1966, which then hired the founding president, Dr. Stephen Epler, in June 1966. The college opened in fall 1967 at the Serra Center, a temporary site on Washington Boulevard. Eventually the college went out to the community for a $10 million bond and in 1972 began construction of the new Ohlone College campus on Mission Boulevard in Fremont. Ernest J. Kump designed the original nine buildings that make up the academic village. Buildings added later to the campus include the performing arts center, the technology center, the child development center and the student services center. A second campus was constructed in Newark, CA, The Ohlone College Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology, which opened in 2008. Including Dr. Epler, Ohlone has had only six presidents in its 45+ year history. The current president is Dr. Gari Browning, Ohlone's first female president.
Athletics
Ohlone fields teams in 7 varsity sports including swimming, baseball, basketball, soccer and water polo, and is a member of the CCCAA and the Coast Conference.
Academics
Ohlone offers associate degrees in the Arts and Sciences equivalent to completing the two year undergraduate coursework in many subjects. Ohlone also offers job training programs which can be completed in less than the two-year cycle required for a degree.
Center for Deaf Studies
In 1972, the Ohlone College Center for Deaf Studies and Special Services was established when the College opened its doors to 30 Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. The Center for Deaf Studies has up to 200 Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in a single year.
Learning Alliance for Bioscience Program is a National Science Foundation funded program that places high school students from underrepresented populations on an academic pathway to prepare for college degrees in biotechnology.
Broadcasting Department
Radio: KOHL 89.3 FM. Film & Television: ONTV 28, broadcast on Comcast and streamed at www.ohlonetv.com The Broadcasting Dept: Film & Television offers classes in beginning and advanced short film & video production, television news, documentary production, video editing, writing for media and shooting digital video. ONTV produces a live newscast on Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm during the spring and fall semesters. Notable graduates include Betty Yu, Azemith Smith, Tommy Tran, Tiffany Liou, Rebecca Strom, and casting director Erin Tomasello, as well as dozens of producers, reporters, directors and filmmakers working in film, television and the Internet. KOHL radio has been the host of notable individuals such as civil rights activistBobby Seale and actress Rita Moreno.
The Respiratory Therapist is a licensed healthcare professional in cardio-pulmonary evaluation, diagnosis and treatment. Upon completion of Respiratory Therapist program graduates are eligible to sit for the California State License Examination for Respiratory Care Practitioner. Once the RCP Credential has been attained graduates are eligible to sit for the Advanced Level Practitioner Examinations of the National Board for Respiratory Care.
